Taylor Landfair had 21 kills and Mckenna Wucherer 16 — the last one on match point — as the No. 9
Gophers defeated No. 12 Purdue 27-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19 on Saturday at Maturi Pavilion in a key Big Ten volleyball match.
The two teams came into it tied for fourth place in the conference standings. The Boilermakers had beaten Minnesota 3-0 on Sept. 23 in West Lafayette, Ind., in a conference opener. This was sweet payback.
The Gophers (12-6, 7-3 Big Ten), now 6-1 in their past seven matches, trailed 21-16 in the first set but rallied to win on Purdue errors for the last two points. The Boilermakers led 21-14 in the second set and closed it out on a double block on Wucherer. Minnesota never fell behind in the third set, led 11-6 and 20-12 and won on Eva Hudson's attack error. The fourth set was close until the end.
This loss was the fourth for Purdue (15-5, 6-4) out of its past five matches despite Hudson's 21 kills. She is first and Landfair second in the Big Ten in kills per set.
While they offset each other, the Gophers had Wucherer, a freshman, step up to hit .452. Setter Melani Shaffmaster had 47 assists and 20 digs.
The Gophers hit .263, the Boilermakers .160. Purdue had 30 attack errors to Minnesota's 21.
